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Glacier Point Apron is open to climbing, but the Park Service's website does not recommend climbing there ";due to recent and ongoing rockfall.";

Description

Pitch for pitch, this route is as good as the Regular Route...if only it got more traffic! Be careful of loose rock and crispy flakes on this at all times.

Pitch 1 (5.11d): Just to the right of the crux pitch of the Regular route is a finger- to off-finger crack. While slightly less steep than its neighbor, the awkward size and poor feet make it considerably harder. Climb this and then switch cracks, continuing up to a 2-bolt belay in a bay bush.

Pitch 2 (5.10b): Climb flakes up to a slowly widening crack, starting with hands and going all the way to 5". Continue past the small roof and build a gear anchor right after this in a finger crack. This pitch is hard for the grade (I suggest 5.10c) and takes all sizes of gear.

Pitch 3 (5.11a): Climb up to the enormous, can't-miss-it offwidth. Sustained armbarring and eventually stacking will get you to where it pinches down to hand-size. Carefully traverse left to the Pitch 6 belay on the Regular route. You'll want to pull out all of the wide arsenal for this. The guidebook says 5.11a but I thought it was about 5.10d.

From here, you have several choices for your 4th pitch.

Option 1, leftmost: This pitch is called the Excellent Adventure. I haven't done this, but it takes you up a finger crack to the Rostrum Roof. (5.13)

Option 2, center: This is pitch 7 of the Regular route, starting up the Guano cave, up to the hanging flake, then continuing up and left into a very overhanging corner with pumpy handjamming. (5.11b)

Option 3, rightmost: This is the original Blind Faith finish. Start as with the handcrack, but when you get to the hanging flake bust right into a flare. Belay at the top of this or if you like, continue up the P8 offwidth to the top. (5.10d)

Pitch 5:

Option 1, leftmost: Original Regular route finish. Don't really know much about it except that it goes at 5.12b.

Option 2, center: The Alien finish. Also 5.12b.

Option 3, rightmost: Depending on how you did the last pitch, you may or may not have to traverse under the roof until you are standing at the base of a right-facing corner. This offwidth leads to the top and is guarded by an awkward entry move. (5.10)

Location

Starting from the midway ledge on the North face. Use the approach trail for the Regular route to get here.

11 Comments

P1 - thought this was one letter grade harder than the crux pitch on the regular route - great pitch! P2 - 10b seems right. Another great pitch with a fun roof to finish it off. Belay 25' above the roof at a good slinged block where you can also get small gear, right below the OW P3 - This seemed very soft for the grade to both of us ( easier than P4). Next time I would take a 4,5,6 cam in addition to the normal rostrum double cam rack to blue camelot P4 - Much harder than we expected.

All in all great, well protected, route that needs more traffic - get on it !
Sep 16, 2013

Climbed it today and felt the 11d pitch was WAY harder than the regular route crux. Such a grim size. The wide cracks were great! Loses a some points for lichen and grainy rock quality compared to the regular route.
Oct 17, 2012

David, I do not want to sandbag anyone, but this is how I felt with my hand size. I have average hands, but fat fingers - so it possible helped to ease transition from off-fingers to tight hands. I had never before red-pointed 11d's- so I downgraded this thing to my red point level.
Oct 1, 2012

Dang, Alexey, I couldn't disagree more about pitch 1 on Blind Faith being the same difficulty as the Rostrum crux. It felt so hard to me! At least the rostrum crux has actual finger locks on it. P1 of of Blind Faith is so rattley.

But as far as P3 is concerned, I agree...it's definitely not harder than Twilight Zone or 10.96. It's most likely 5.10d, maybe just 5.10+. As far as the rack goes, if I do it again, I'm tempted to just leave the 6 and bring a couple big bros for those first 50 feet.
Sep 26, 2012

the route get the evening sun in summer earlier than North face. In August it in shade from 10am to 4:30pm

After climbing this route -I like idea to climb Blind Faith to bypass of 3 Rostrum pitches and it does not felt harder. The first pitch of Blind Faith is more classy than crux pitch on Rostrum but not harder. And you can avoid Rostrum p5 with very hard 10d layback. The only downside of Blind Faith - you need to cary #6 in addition to Rostrum rack. Both ow pitches p2 and p3 have hardest part with transition from 5 to 4 inches and since both splitters- leavittation [hand stack+ calf lock ] works there the best. P3 - felt easier than 5.11a probably was originally rated if you armbaring at this size. I climbed it with my rack on right side with my left knee higher than right ( which is left side in) walking up single #6 about 50 feet. Probably with two #6, one #5 and one #4 - no need to walk havy bustard.

And need to say that 10d flare on p4 which share first half with p7 of Rostrum- is very good pitch- defenatly easier than his 11b brother around the flake
Aug 13, 2012

I hear ya David, it may be cooler, but it's still not the route. When writing a route description that isn't editable by the community at-large, I feel it's incumbent on the person writing it to actually describe the route, (feeling free to note preferred or most commonly climbed off-route variations). Not trying to be a jerk here, just striving for accuracy.
Sep 21, 2011

Yeah, that's what the supertaco and the reid's book say. The middle (5.11b hands) is so much cooler though, IMO.

Alexey,

It's splitter. No crux, just sustained 6 C4 size. Some sections are too big for the 6 so I just had to push it through until I found somewhere it would fit again. Eventually it narrows to 5 C4, then 4 C4, then fists and hands, but this is only the top third of the pitch.
Sep 19, 2011